5 realistic free agent signings to make NY Giants contenders
By Matt Clark
The NY Giants want to have $20 million left after free agency, we examine five free agents that would allow for that and still make them contenders next year.
After having only 12 wins combined over the past three seasons, including a pathetic four-win season last year, it is extremely apparent that the NY Giants have several holes on their roster that need to be filled to become a legitimate playoff contender again.
Luckily, the NY Giants are in an excellent position to plug many of the holes on their roster with could be high-level talents that could take them from a disaster to a contender in just one year. Between their draft situation and their salary cap situation, there is a lot of reason for Giants fans to be optimistic about a quick turnaround.
The Giants are selecting fourth overall in the draft, possessing a player who after a highly successful rookie season appears to be their franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones, in what is a draft filled with elite quarterbacks and a lot of quarterback-needy teams. As a result, they are in a prime position to trade back to add draft capital and further replenish their roster.
Currently, the NY Giants are projected to have $61,887,216 in cap space next year. That is before potentially cutting Alec Ogletree ($8.25M), Rhett Ellison ($5M), Kareem Martin ($4.8M), Nate Solder ($6.5M), Antoine Bethea ($2.75M), Spencer Pulley ($2.75M), Golden Tate III ($3.29M), Alex Tanney ($1M), and Wayne Gallman($735,000), who are all distinct possibilities to be cut.
When you add up the total savings of all of those players after factoring out the dead cap space that the Giants would be forced to still payout next season, the cost savings would be an additional $35.05 million. The total cap space if all were released would be almost $97 million.
It’s unlikely that all of these players will be released. Some will remain on the roster with their contracts as they are currently structured, some will have them restructured to a more team-friendly deal and some will be cut outright. Conservatively, the Giants still may be looking at $90 million in cap space when the dust settles (Solder and Tate are likely to stay).
Dave Gettleman stated that he wanted to have around $20 million remaining once he was finished with free agency. Approximately $13 million would be allocated to draft picks based on where the Giants are currently selecting. The remaining money would be available for the Giants to add to the roster if needed during the season next year.
With the idea that the Giants will have almost $70 million to spend in free agency this offseason, here are five free agents that would keep the Giants within that financial threshold, while immediately making the NY Giants legitimate playoff contenders next season: